简介：Wedescribeafewmathematicaltoolswhichallowtoinvestigatewhetherair-waterinterfacesexist(underprescribedconditions)andaremechanicallystableandtemporallypersistent.Intermsofphysics,air-waterinterfacesaregovernedbytheYoung-Laplaceequation.Mathematicallytheyaresurfacesofconstantmeancurvaturewhichrepresentsolutionsofanonlinearellipticpartialdifferentialequation.Althoughexplicitsolutionsofthisequationcanbeobtainedonlyinveryspecialcases,itis-undermoderatelyspecialcircumstances-possibletoestablishtheexistenceofasolutionwithoutactuallysolvingthedifferentialequation.Wealsoderivecriteriaformechanicalstabilityandtemporalpersistenceofanairlayer.Furthermorewecalculatethelifetimeofanon-persistentairlayer.Finally,weapplythesetoolstotwoexampleswhichexhibitthesymmetriesof2Dlattices.TheseexamplescanbeviewedasabstractionsofthebiologicalmodelrepresentedbytheaquaticfernSalvinia.